Mike Hill and Charlotte Athletics have officially hired their new head football coach in Will Healy.
“When we set out to hire a coach, our goal was to find someone who will energize and transform the 49ers into a championship program. Will is that man. Across the country he is recognized as one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the nation,” said Hill. “His name came up time and again throughout our search as someone who is a relentless, proven recruiter who has seen remarkable success.”
Healy, National FCS Coach of the Year, will become the second youngest head coach in the FBS at 33-years old. Healy spent the last three years as head coach of the Austin Peay Governors in Tennessee.
The now Charlotte 49ers head coach led the Governors to what is considered to be “one of the great turnarounds in college football history.”
In his first season with the Governors in 2016, Healy was named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year and under his hand, six players garnered all-conference honors as well as his quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall being named Freshman of the Year.
In 2017, the Governors were ranked sixth nationally and set a school record with 3,105 rushing yards. Austin Peay also set records for rushing touchdowns, total offensive yards and total touchdowns. At the end of the season, despite missing the postseason, Healy received more accolades including Roy Kidd Coach of the Year from the Ohio Valley Conference.
In his most recent season, the Govs went 5-6 overall to give themselves two five-win seasons in a row for the first time since 1984-85.
Prior to coaching at Austin Peay, Healy spent time as an assistant coach at Chattanooga where he helped lead them to multiple Southern Conference Championships and the FCS Playoffs multiple times.
During his tenure with the Mocs he served as quarterbacks coach, wide receivers coach, passing-game coordinator and recruiting coordinator for the Mocs.
While serving as quarterback coach in 2009, he worked with BJ Coleman, who would become a seventh-round selection of the Green Bay Packers in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Healy himself was a Tennessee “Mr. Football” finalist as a senior, and even holds the Chattanooga area career passing record with more than 7,700 yards. The University of Richmond 2008 graduate held a position as team captain that year.
The Charlotte 49ers welcome Healy, his wife Emily, and their son Eli as well as the child they are currently expecting.
“In my first conversation with Mike Hill, I told him that I would walk to Charlotte to talk to him about this job. This is a special place – a young football program with tremendous University leadership located in a first-class city. We can recruit and develop excellent student-athletes here and we can compete at a very high level,” said Healy. “I can’t wait to get stared.”